Common European Data Spaces: What They Mean for EU Businesses

Introduction

Data is increasingly recognized as a strategic asset for innovation, economic competitiveness and informed public policy. Large volumes of high-quality data fuel the development of artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, and digital services. The European Union (EU) has developed an ambitious policy agenda to create a single market for data in which it can flow securely across sectors and borders. 

A central pillar of this agenda is the development of Common European Data Spaces (CEDS). The initiative aims to facilitate trusted data sharing between public authorities, businesses, and researchers while preserving European values such as privacy, transparency, and data sovereignty. 

What are Common European Data Spaces? 

CEDS are envisioned as interconnected data spaces operating in strategic domains including health, agriculture, manufacturing, energy, mobility, finance, public administration, environment, tourism, research and innovation, and cultural heritage, among others. 

These data spaces are not intended to function as data lakes. Instead, they can be understood as interoperable frameworks based on common governance principles, standards, practices, and services that enable trusted data transactions between participants. Participants typically include data providers, data users, service providers, and governance authorities responsible for maintaining the operational framework. 

Data spaces aim to guarantee data sovereignty, meaning that entities sharing data retain full control over their data. In practice, most spaces operate through federated architectures, in which data remains with the original data holder but can be accessed through secure technical interfaces and agreed governance mechanisms. 

Why is the EU creating data spaces? 

The European Commission’s Strategy for Data, published in 2020, envisions a single market for data that combines fit-for-purpose legislation and governance to ensure availability of data, with investment in standards, tools and infrastructures. The development of CEDS across key sectors mentioned above is a central objective of this strategy.

The initiative was further developed in the Data Union Strategy, published by the Commission in November 2025, as the next phase of EU data policy. While the earlier Strategy for Data focused primarily on establishing legal frameworks for data sharing, the Data Union Strategy places greater emphasis on deploying, scaling, and ensuring the interoperability of data spaces across the EU economy with a focus on AI readiness as a key objective. 

How are the CEDS regulated? 

CEDS are not governed by a single dedicated EU regulation. Instead, they are supported by a broader digital regulatory framework composed of several legislative instruments that together form the legal foundation of the EU data economy. Key legislative instruments include: 

• The Data Governance Act promotes the reuse of certain categories of data held by public sector bodies and establishes voluntary data-sharing mechanisms through data intermediaries and data altruism organisations; 

• The Data Act introduces rules governing access to and use of data generated by connected devices, and prohibits unfair contractual terms that could prevent data sharing; 

• The Open Data Directive facilitates the reuse of public sector information, including by requiring certain high-value datasets to be made available in a machine-readable format and, in principle, free of charge. 

In addition, the EU may adopt sector-specific legislation to establish governance frameworks tailored to particular domains. The European Health Data Space Regulation (EHDS-R) represents the most advanced example of such legislation, establishing a dedicated rules for both the primary use of electronic health data for patient care and its re-use (secondary use) for research, innovation, and policymaking. All of these instruments operate alongside broader legal frameworks, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and EU competition law. 

What is the state of play of key CEDS? 

Several CEDS are currently being developed to facilitate data sharing in strategic sectors of the economy. These initiatives are at different stages of development. Some CEDS are supported by dedicated legislation or legislative proposals. Other sectoral data spaces, such as those in energy, mobility, agriculture, and manufacturing, are being developed through pilot projects, governance frameworks, and EU-funded technical infrastructures. Below, we present a summary of the developments in the most important domains. 

European Health Data Space (EHDS) 

The European Health Data Space represents the most advanced CEDS, with the EHDS-R published in March 2025. The EHDS-R aims to establish a comprehensive framework for the sharing and reuse of electronic health data. It strengthens patients’ rights by giving them greater control over their electronic health data and enabling easier access and sharing of that data when receiving healthcare in other Member States (primary use). At the same time, it creates a framework for the secure use of high-quality health data in research, innovation, policymaking, and regulation (secondary use). 

The general application of the EHDS-R will commence in 2027. Provisions governing the secondary use of health data will become applicable in 2029, while specific rules relating to clinical trials and genetic data will enter into force in 2031. 

The EHDS-R will have concrete implications for businesses across the healthcare ecosystem, although the specific obligations will vary depending on the type of company involved. Developers and suppliers of software used by healthcare providers, including electronic health record (EHR) systems, will need to adapt their products to meet harmonised interoperability and logging requirements, undergo testing in an automated environment, and obtain CE marking before placing such systems on the EU market. Companies developing wellness applications that claim integration with EHR systems will also need to comply with the relevant common specifications and essential requirements. 

Organisations acting as health data holders, such as hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, and private research institutions, will face new obligations to map their datasets, submit descriptions of electronic health datasets to health data access bodies, and make certain data available for authorised secondary use. At the same time, parties engaged in research and innovation will gain new opportunities to access health datasets for scientific research, including the development and training of AI systems, subject to approval and strict safeguards governing the use of pseudonymized or anonymized data within secure processing environments. 

Common European Financial Data Space (CEFDS) 

According to the 2020 Digital Finance Strategy, the European Commission aims to setup a Common European Financial Data Space (CEFDS) comprising three components: 

• Business-to-business data sharing in the EU financial sector and beyond (open finance); 
• Real-time digital access to all regulated financial information; 
• Innovative IT tools to facilitate reporting and supervision. 

To support the first component, open finance, the Commission proposed the Financial Data Access framework (FIDA), which establishes rights and obligations governing customer data sharing in the financial sector. The framework is expected to promote innovation, enhance competition and enable the development of innovative financial products and services. This proposed framework will have a direct impact on a broad category of entities when acting as data holders or data users, such as investment firms, payment institutions, investment fund managers, and similar actors in the financial sector. The FIDA proposal remains at the proposal stage, and the exact adoption date has not yet been determined. 

The second component involves the development of a European Single Access Point (ESAP) under Regulation (EU) 2023/2859. Once operational (which is expected by July 2027), ESAP will become the EU-wide platform to facilitate public access to financial and non-financial information for people and businesses. The third component relates to the modernisation of supervisory reporting. A strategy to modernise financial data reporting was published in a December 2021 communication, with further progress reported in 2024. 

European Mobility Data Space (EMDS) 

The European Commission published a communication in November 2023 on the creation of a Common European Mobility Data Space (EMDS). The aim of the EMDS is not to establish a single, centralised database or hardware infrastructure to host all EU mobility and transport data. Instead, the EMDS is intended to provide a framework that interlinks and federates diverse transport data ecosystems, which are often heterogeneous and difficult to discover or access. 

The framework will include both technical and governance components, such as building blocks, standards, an interlinking layer, and a governance structure. 

The EMDS complements existing cross-sectoral regulations such as the Data Act and Data Governance Act, and takes into account data sharing mechanisms in the passenger and freight transport ecosystem, such as the ITS Directive, which establishes national access points. 

The development of the EMDS is also supported by several initiatives for digitalization of the transport sector and EU-funded actions. 

Under the Data Union Strategy, the Commission also illustrates how "data labs" could support the operationalization of the EMDS. These data labs (described as service providers) would enable companies developing AI-based solutions such as predictive maintenance systems for electric vehicles, to access trusted, anonymized and aggregated datasets from vehicle manufacturers by overcoming barriers related to data fragmentation amongst others. 

In parallel, various Member State and private sector-led initiatives are also developing data ecosystems and marketplaces to facilitate data sharing in the mobility sector. 

Green Deal Data Space (GDDS) 

The aim of the development of the Green Deal Data Space (GDDS) is to support the European Green Deal by enabling access to environmental data, including climate data, biodiversity data, and data related to the circular economy, zero pollution, and deforestation. The GDDS data should inform EU environmental and climate objectives and reinforce the key pillars of the European Green Deal, i.e., zero pollution, climate adaptation, biodiversity and circular economy. 

To address fragmentation in environmental data, the GDDS is being developed by several EU-funded projects. For instance, projects like AD4GD, B-Cubed, FAIRiCUBE, and USAGE contribute to defining its technical and governance requirements. Another project, Data Space for a Sustainable Green Europe (SAGE) is developing a federated and interoperable platform capable of integrating environmental datasets from multiple sources and enabling their use in areas such as climate modelling, biodiversity monitoring, and circular economy initiatives. 

The creation of GDDS is further supported by sector-specific legislation, such as the recently adopted Regulation (EU) 2025/2455 which lays down rules for a monitoring chemicals and chemical risks through establishment of a Common Data Platform on Chemicals. The regulation entered into force on 1 January 2026 and a fully operational Common Data Platform is expected to be developed by 2 January 2029, with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) responsible for building this unified IT infrastructure. This platform will ensure FAIR access to chemical data, thereby improving risk assessments and supporting the EU objective of a toxic-free environment. This will result in a less fragmented framework for business operators to submit data and information on chemicals. 

The development of the GDDS is also underpinned by ongoing legislative processes, including the simplification of reporting tasks for companies (e.g. under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) and the revision of the INSPIRE Directive under the GreenData4All initiative. 

Media Data Space (MDS) 

The Commission’s intention to create a Media Data Space (MDS) was published in a communication in December 2020. The MDS is currently supported by the Trusted European Media Space (TEMS) project under the Digital Europe Programme. TEMS aims to create a data-driven media ecosystem that enables organisations in the media and audiovisual sectors to access AI-based tools to combat misinformation, obtain critical analytical insights, expand content distribution, and develop new monetisation models. 

Recent developments announced by TEMS include several trials of various use cases or models such as a Business-to-Business exchange platform for fact-checking and news content, a marketplace for content and services, collaboration in the production chain, a Business-to-Business exchange platform for content syndication, and a marketplace for virtual production. 

The Data Union Strategy expects the MDS to leverage data labs for AI-driven cultural innovation by helping organisations access, prepare, and use data effectively for AI. 

Conclusion 

The development of CEDS represents a key pillar of the EU’s digital strategy, combining legislative frameworks, technical infrastructures, and sector-specific initiatives across the European economy while preserving fundamental rights and data sovereignty. 

Significant progress has already been made with sector-specific legislation such as the EHDS-R. However, scaling these initiatives remains challenging. Many data spaces are still transitioning from publicly funded pilot projects to sustainable operational ecosystems, and identifying viable business models and sufficient incentives for participation continues to be a major implementation challenge. 

The Data Union Strategy is expected to play a critical role in addressing these challenges through its three pillars: scaling up access to quality data for AI and innovation, streamlining data rules, and safeguarding the EU’s data sovereignty through a strategic international data policy.